President Obama’s job approval is above 50 percent in just 11 states

President Obama pauses as he speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff at the White House on Dec. 21, 2012. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

Obama’s job approval ratings by state. (Gallup)

President Obama’s job approval rating last year was above 50 percent in just 11 states, according to a Gallup survey.

Generally, residents of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states approve of Obama the most. His average approval rating last year was about two percentage points down from 2012, according to the Gallup survey which included more than 178,000 interviews:

In three states — Washington, Minnesota and Michigan — his job approval dropped below the majority level. His approval rating did not improve by a statistically significant amount in any state.

Throughout Obama’s presidency, the most approving and least approving states have mostly stayed the same. In addition to the District of Columbia, seven states have been among the 10 most approving each year since 2009 — Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and California. New Jersey, Rhode Island and Delaware have ranked among the 10 most approving states in all but one year of Obama’s presidency. Hawaii has ranked first among states each year, and Maryland has been second in all but one year.

The 11 states where majorities approve of the job he’s doing as president are: Hawaii, Maryland, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware and Illinois. Approval in those states ranged from 53.7 percent in Illinois to 61.3 percent in Hawaii.

His approval is lowest in Wyoming, West Virginia, Utah, South Dakota, Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas and North Dakota. Just 22.5 percent of Wyoming residents approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 35.5 percent of North Dakotans do.